Ensign takes offensive in affair drama

Sen. John Ensign is going on the offensive against the husband of the woman with whom he had an affair, charging that the man not only tried to shop the story to Fox News but also demanded large sums of money from Ensign himself.

“Within the past month, Doug Hampton's legal counsel made exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits on behalf of his client,” Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said in an e-mail to POLITICO Friday. “Doug Hampton’s outrageous demand was referred to Sen. Ensign’s legal counsel, who is handling the matter going forward."

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Mazzola’s statement came just hours after the Las Vegas Sun published a June 11 letter Hampton – himself a former Ensign staffer — wrote to Fox News in which he accused the senator of “heinous” behavior that left his family in financial ruin.

Combined, the letter and the statement set the dueling storylines for an unfolding scandal. Hampton portrays the senator as a stalker whose “conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008.” Mazzola portrays Ensign as a victim – a man forced to admit his sins by a greedy schemer.

Ensign’s aggressive counterattack underscores the political stakes.

The affair has already cost Ensign his post as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the No. 4 spot in the GOP Senate leadership. Now it’s emboldening a potential challenger.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, the Democratic congresswoman who represents Las Vegas, said Friday that she hadn’t even considered running for the Senate in 2012, when Ensign will be up for reelection, but that the events of the last week – and the release of Hampton’s letter – have caused her to weigh whether to run.

“It created a calculation that wasn’t in the equation before,” Berkley said. “I never thought about it. Berkley didn’t go as far as calling on Ensign to resign, but she came close.

“John is going to have to decide that for himself,” Berkley said of Ensign’s future. “I just think there is going to be more and more pressure on him to do the right thing. He’s going to decide for himself what the right thing is – decide what the right thing is for his family and for the state of Nevada and the people he represents. I think his ability to represent the state and the people who call Nevada home has been compromised dramatically.”

“I think he’s done himself irreconcilable harm – and frankly, hurt the state,” Berkley added. “We have a tough enough time representing Las Vegas, because of all the preconceived notions. When my colleagues come up to me and talk about this, it’s nothing more than a joke. And they’re surprised that anybody in Nevada should be upset because that’s the way we do business – and that’s indefensible. This is bad on so many levels – it’s very unfortunate situation.”

Rep. Dina Titus, a freshman Democrat who also represents a part of Las Vegas, was less strident in her remarks about Ensign, but she said that Hampton’s letter to Fox raised the prospect for her that Ensign had engaged in sexual harassment – which she called “offensive.”